Coming of Age Film FestivalHonoring Faust
The local music community has rallied after the death of Jacob Faust, the 25-year-old artist, musician, filmmaker and puppeteer who was fatally shot by a San Diego police officer last month. Faust was pulled over for making an illegal U-turn onto Fourth Avenue from Broadway at approximately 1:45 a.m. on April 4. An official statement by police said Faust wouldn't get out of his van when asked and reached for a toy gun he had tucked behind the seat. His family has said Faust was nonviolent and wouldn't have done something so careless. The gun was a prop he used in puppet shows at the United Methodist Church in Mission Valley, where he was a janitor and organist.
A benefit held last Sunday at the Casbah featured local bands Bunky, That Mad Ahab, Business Lady, Sex Affection and members of the Carnival Barkers, a vaudvillian music and theater troupe Faust performed with. Money raised at the benefit will go to the “Justice for Jake Fund.” Friends and supporters are encouraged to make donations to the Jacob Faust Memorial Fund, 28149 Stillwater Drive, Menifee, Calif. 92584.
Three websites have been set up as tributes to Faust. Faust was an avid swing dancer and jivejunction.com has dedicated a page to him, including photos and letters from friends and family.
Faust was also working on a film project when he died. The website www.albinofawn.com/faust includes samples of his artwork, music compositions and a film clip. Faust spent much of the last six years working on the film with Eric Leiser. It screens at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia on May 20 and a local premiere at the Ken Theater is planned.
Another site, www.jacobfaust.com includes a brief biography. Friends and family say they plan to add samples of Faust's writing and artwork to the site.
Jock rockers wanted
The connection between wrestling and rock 'n' roll is long and sometimes scary. Over the years, the mixing of the two has produced such “classic” manly-man musical moments from artists as diverse as Freddie “Pencil Neck Geek” Blassie and Cyndi Lauper.
Now, San Diego promoter Ruben Zamora wants to bring local acts into the world of pile-driver rock. For the past two years, Zamora has been staging a series of “Lucha Libre” matches (the ones with the masked Mexican wrestlers) at South Bay high schools every couple of months. Though some schools are initially hesitant hosts, the matches draw big crowds and feature a mix of legendary names from Mexico as well as San Diego.
“We're looking for hard and heavy music to use in a few places, particularly to intro the various wrestlers as they make their grand entrance,” said Zamora. While licensing fees are no doubt an obstacle for Zamora, the promoter claims a more altruistic motive. “I've always been a big fan of local bands,” he says.
The matches are also being filmed for release on DVD, with music to be included. “I'm trying to keep these promotions and DVD releases as local as possible in production terms, and music from San Diego artists seems like a natural addition to the program,” said Zamora. “If a national deal comes through, I'd like to bring along as many people as possible.”
While Zamora is not excluding any musical genres from consideration, there are some limitations. “We're looking for energetic, uptempo, hard-hitting songs to make an impact, so acoustic acts don't have the right sound there. I'm a huge fan of Gregory Page, for example, but his music probably wouldn't work in this context,” he joked.
To get your band in the ring, call Zamora at 619-210-4000.
Notables...
91X and 4th & B continue their series of monthly local music showcases on May 6 with Scarlet Symphony, Irradio, Dirty Sweet and Aurous. Perfect for budget-minded indie fans, tickets are only five bucks.
The May 2005 issue of Spanish magazine Ansia de Color features a 16-page section on San Diego's '60s-inspired bands. The Loons get major coverage with The Liqourice Quartet, Jersey Thursdays, Viewmasters and Silver Sunshine also included, as well as several features on the history of San Diego's sonic ties to the flower-power generation, including a piece on the Tell Tale Hearts.
Speaking of the Loons, they head into the studio this week to record a track for Bomp Records' upcoming Tribute To Greg Shaw. Bands will cover some of the classic songs put out on the garage-rock imprint in honor of Shaw, the label's well-respected founder who died recently. “We're going with ‘I'm Dissatisfied' by [San Diego band] The Crawdaddys,” said head Loon Mike Stax. “I thought that it would be interesting to do the song that inspired me to move to San Diego in the first place.”
Metal rockers As I Lay Dying will headline the second stage on this year's Ozzfest tour. On the main stage are '70s rock icons Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, along with other big guns. The tour starts July 15 in Boston.
The Truckee Brothers appear to be taking England by storm. While not all performances have been as successful, the duo sold out their May 2 show at hip nightspot, Boogaloo. The rowdy crowd demanded encores until the club was finally forced to good naturedly pull the plug on the fun.
The amount of new releases is increasing, as is always the case as summer approaches. Latin jazz favorites Agua Dulce release their new album Internationale with a special event at 'Canes on May 5. Acid rockers Earthless, featuring Rocket from the Crypt's Mario Rubalcalba, drop their new disc Sonic Party with a CD-release gig at the Casbah on May 6. Goodbye Blue Monday unveils their latest Loud and Clear Records release, Help Is On The Way, with a show May 7 at the Casbah. Finally, former La Jollan Alison Brown delivers her new album, Stolen Moments, on May 10. Brown was an early area champion of Americana-the banjo in particular-and has since gone on to found the acclaimed record label, Compass. She'll play a homecoming show on June 17 at Acoustic Music San Diego.
Time to brush up on those four Spanish words you remember from high school, because Cinco de Mayo celebrations are all over town this week. The most eclectic entertainment lineup will be at downtown's annual festival, Cinco in the Gaslamp. Alongside the traditional mariachi music and ballet folklorico dancing will be classic Mexican band Fish and the Seaweeds, funk band the Soul Persuaders, Rolling Stones tribute band Jumpin' Jack Flash and hard-rock covers specialists Metal Skool, with a separate DJ-only hip-hop stage. While the music ain't the most authentically Mexican, there definitely won't be a bigger, boisterous or more crowded party in San Diego.
If you don't mind a little religion with your arts and culture, you may want to check out Illumination: The Arts in a New Light, an arts festival being held at downtown's Flood Church (640 C St.) on May 7. The event starts at 7 p.m. and includes exhibits of photography, art and fashion with over a dozen DJs and artists, including indie rockers War & Cinema and singer-songwriter Annie Bethancourt.
